August 29, 2011

Obama's "Historic" Hurricane, Media Hype, And "The Worst Hurricane" In U.S. History - That Wasn't

Apparently it was not just snarky Althor at Hyscience the only one who saw as suspect that a president whose leadership has been mostly confined to holding news conferences every five minutes at which to give lofty speeches off a teleprompter, and is notorious for holding himself aloof from involving himself in legislative negotiations and the nitty-gritty of governance, would all of a sudden get involved and show an uncharacteristic interest in, of all things, hurricane preparedness, and call "Historic" a tropical depression that more than hurricane was a tropical storm that ended in a "whimper" rather than in the "bang" the president, the hype of the servile media, and the politicians, were making it out to be.

"The images summed up Hurricane Irene - the media and the United States federal government trying to live up to their own doom-laden warnings and predictions while a sizeable number of ordinary Americans just carried on as normal and even made gentle fun of all the fuss."

"There was almost palpable disappointment among the TV big guns rolled out for the occasion when Irene was downgraded to a mere 'tropical storm'. In New York city, CNN's silver-haired Anderson Cooper, more usually seen in a tight t-shirt in a famine or war zone, was clad in what one wag dubbed 'disaster casual.' "

"He looked crestfallen and fell briefly silent when a weatherwoman told him that the rain was not going to get any worse. 'Wow, because this isn't so bad,' he said. 'It's an annoying rain but it isn't even a sideways rain.' "

"Then came the press conferences from the politicians, with Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey insisting that his evacuation of the Jersey Shore was 'a pre-emptive measure that I am confident saved lives' and there could still be damage worth 'tens of billions' of dollars."

"Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security chief, declared that there was 'a ways to go with Irene' but 'with the evacuations and other precautions taken we have dramatically decreased the risk to life'. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York seemed thoroughly delighted with himself, as if he personally had calmed the waters and stifled the winds."

"The truth is that the dire warning beforehand suited both politicians and journalists. Just as with the minor earthquake that shook the east coast last week causing no loss of life and virtually no damage, Irene became a huge story because it was where the media lived."

"For politicians, Irene was a chance to either make amends or appear in control. The White House sent out 25 Irene emails to the press on Saturday alone."

"There were photographs of President Barack Obama touring disaster centers and footage of him asking somber, pertinent questions. With his poll ratings plummeting, Obama needed to project an aura of seriousness and command. He was all too aware that the political fortunes of his predecessor George W Bush never recovered after the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005."

"The press mostly reported the message the White House had carefully crafted: 'Obama takes charge' read the headline of one wire service story."

"Obama takes charge"? Wow! Whoop Dee F------ Doo! Where the hell was Obama when, even while Democrats held both Houses of Congress and the White House, yet they failed to pass a budget even to this day?

Where was Obama when his socialist-inspired policies of redistribution of wealth, overspending, and overregulation decimated the economy, the job market, and have plunged us into a double-dip recession?

Where was Obama when we needed to cut his profligate spending to balance our budget and avoid defaulting on our national debt, that prompted our first credit rating downgrade in history?

Where was Obama in any of it, except at the very last minute during the Debt Limit Increase crisis, other than campaigning, as he's wont to do, in front of a teleprompter, showing us all how great the "diction" he learned from his "White Devil" grandparents is, strutting like a narcissistic peacock in front of the cameras?

As Mr. Harnden points out: "With his poll ratings plummeting, Obama needed to project an aura of seriousness and command." I said as much in my post on Hyscience.

Obama and the White House, which were already blaming natural disasters - from the Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami, to recent inclement weather in the Midwest, to the freak earthquake that shook Washington DC and the Northeast last week - for all of the Administration's shortcomings and failures, simply saw in hurricane Irene one more "natural disaster" with which to deflect attention from our dire economy on the brink of collapse, the persistent joblessness that plagues us, and our grim outlook - not expected to get better any time soon; at least not under this Administration! Blame it on Irene!

But, let us look at some of the performances in this "Hurricane Irene Obama Media Circus":

On the one hand you had the likes of "silvered-haired" gay degenerate Anderson Cooper - who labeled everyday average Americans who attended the Tea Parties "tea-baggers" derogatorily ascribing to them an obscene homosexual practice he engages in, as way of opprobrium - being all dainty and fashion-minded in the face of what he himself was trying to sell to viewers as the "Perfect Storm" wearing 'disaster casual', as Mr. Harnden notes.

Then, on the other hand, you had Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, sitting at FEMA with the president and advising people not to take hurricane Irene lightly. And one has to ask, what does the Department of Homeland Security have to do with storms, hurricanes, or foul weather? That is, unless Napolitano deemed Irene to be a "Tea Party Hurricane" in which case, of course, she would consider it a "threat to our national security" just as she considers average hard working Americans, and soldier patriots returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "potential domestic terrorists" - even as Muslims and potential Jihadists have the run of the country! Go figure!

Then New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, playing into all the media hype, insisting that his evacuation of the Jersey Shore was a, quote: "pre-emptive measure" - no doubt wishing to ensure that "Snooki" - New Jersey's only asset - would be safe!

At one point, as Irene approached the coast of Virginia, I was amused when the newscaster at Fox News (yes, Fox was also playing the game), all full of angst and hype, announced that hurricane Irene had slowed down to 85 MPH, and was - "Oh the humanity!" - a Category One hurricane.

I couldn't help but think that if Irene kept slowing down, at that rate it'd soon catch-up to the Chevy Volts fleeing it that it had left behind!

Then when Irene was downgraded to a "Tropical Storm" and Mayor "Gloomberg" held yet one more news conference to tell New Yorkers they could stop evacuating and go back to staying put at home until the "threat" of this "Historic" hurricane - as Obama called it - was over on Sunday morning, I couldn't help but think that meant that all those "Obama Greenies" who were putt-putting along in their Chevy Volts in the bad weather on their way to the shelters, could now stop, make a U-turn and head back home, where given the range and performance of the Chevy Volt, they would most likely get back after Irene was over; which meant they had spent the whole of their evacuating from the storm, driving in the storm...LOL!

I would like to remind the reader, that I am not belittling the potential danger of any storm, much less a hurricane of any magnitude, and indeed, as far as we know, at least one death can be attributed to the foul weather associated with hurricane Irene. And it is also true that an ounce of prevention - which we should have exercised when Katrina - is worth a pound of cure; but for all the drummed up histrionics and 24/7 coverage of the Obama-lapping Mainstream Media, this "Storm-that-couldn't" has proven to be more of an Obama political farce, than the catastrophic natural disater it was hyped up to be!

If only Obama would have gotten as involved, postured as much, held as many news conferences in a day, visited as many government agencies to assess the situation, and been as passionate about turning our economy around and creating jobs, as he disingenuously wants to make us believe he is been about this "non-hurricane" Irene, to take our minds off the rotund failure his presidency has turned out to be, we would have been out of the recession by now, and America would be back to work!

Talk about the servile media and "Chicago Politics" and "Smoke and Mirrors"!

Posted by Althor at August 29, 2011 10:10 AM

Obama's \"Historic\" Hurricane, Media Hype, And \"The Worst Hurricane\" In U.S. History - That Wasn't

Apparently it was not just snarky Althor at Hyscience the only one who saw as suspect that a president whose leadership has been mostly confined to holding news conferences every five minutes at which to give lofty speeches off a teleprompter, and is notorious for holding himself aloof from involving himself in legislative negotiations and the nitty-gritty of governance, would all of a sudden get involved and show an uncharacteristic interest in, of all things, hurricane preparedness, and call \"Historic\" a tropical depression that more than hurricane was a tropical storm that ended in a \"whimper\" rather than in the \"bang\" the president, the hype of the servile media, and the politicians, were making it out to be. \n\nToday on the Drudge Report, Toby Harnden, U.S. Editor of The Telegraph based in Washington DC, apparently shares similar misgivings, writing in his article on The Telegraph of August 28th, 2011, entitled: \"Perfect Storm of Hype: Politicians, the media and the Hurricane Irene apocalypse that never was.\" :\n

\"The images summed up Hurricane Irene - the media and the United States federal government trying to live up to their own doom-laden warnings and predictions while a sizeable number of ordinary Americans just carried on as normal and even made gentle fun of all the fuss.\"\n\n\"There was almost palpable disappointment among the TV big guns rolled out for the occasion when Irene was downgraded to a mere 'tropical storm'. In New York city, CNN's silver-haired Anderson Cooper, more usually seen in a tight t-shirt in a famine or war zone, was clad in what one wag dubbed 'disaster casual.' \"\n\n\"He looked crestfallen and fell briefly silent when a weatherwoman told him that the rain was not going to get any worse. 'Wow, because this isn't so bad,' he said. 'It's an annoying rain but it isn't even a sideways rain.' \"\n\n\"Then came the press conferences from the politicians, with Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey insisting that his evacuation of the Jersey Shore was 'a pre-emptive measure that I am confident saved lives' and there could still be damage worth 'tens of billions' of dollars.\"\n\n\"Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security chief, declared that there was 'a ways to go with Irene' but 'with the evacuations and other precautions taken we have dramatically decreased the risk to life'. Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York seemed thoroughly delighted with himself, as if he personally had calmed the waters and stifled the winds.\"\n\n\"The truth is that the dire warning beforehand suited both politicians and journalists. Just as with the minor earthquake that shook the east coast last week causing no loss of life and virtually no damage, Irene became a huge story because it was where the media lived.\"\n\n\"For politicians, Irene was a chance to either make amends or appear in control. The White House sent out 25 Irene emails to the press on Saturday alone.\"\n\n\"There were photographs of President Barack Obama touring disaster centers and footage of him asking somber, pertinent questions. With his poll ratings plummeting, Obama needed to project an aura of seriousness and command. He was all too aware that the political fortunes of his predecessor George W Bush never recovered after the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005.\"\n\n\"The press mostly reported the message the White House had carefully crafted: 'Obama takes charge' read the headline of one wire service story.\"

\n\"Obama takes charge\"? Wow! Whoop Dee F------ Doo! Where the hell was Obama when, even while Democrats held both Houses of Congress and the White House, yet they failed to pass a budget even to this day?\n\nWhere was Obama when his socialist-inspired policies of redistribution of wealth, overspending, and overregulation decimated the economy, the job market, and have plunged us into a double-dip recession?\n\nWhere was Obama when we needed to cut his profligate spending to balance our budget and avoid defaulting on our national debt, that prompted our first credit rating downgrade in history?\n\nWhere was Obama in any of it, except at the very last minute during the Debt Limit Increase crisis, other than campaigning, as he's wont to do, in front of a teleprompter, showing us all how great the \"diction\" he learned from his \"White Devil\" grandparents is, strutting like a narcissistic peacock in front of the cameras?